


Jedistan3000

by Windfighter



Series: Iron Man-bingo card 17 [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt Steve Rogers, Hurt Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-08-20 14:24:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20229337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windfighter/pseuds/Windfighter
Summary: Tony Stark introduces Steve to Star Wars and after a night of watching the movies Steve is obsessed. He stumbles over Star Wars-fanfictions and falls even further into the fandom. Fanwriter Jedistan3000 quickly catches his attention and they start talking with each other through the comment section. Steve would like them to be able to engage in conversations easier, especially during the times when Jedistan3000 suddenly disappears. But when Steve finally gets another way to contact them everything unravels.





	Jedistan3000

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still not good at summaries.
> 
> This was supposed to be humor but _I can't do humor_ so have another hurt/comfort-story with a side-dish of angst.
> 
> Written for the Iron Man-bingo and the prompt "Fanfic Writer AU" which I completely butchered as well. But hey, I tried! :D

Star Wars was the first movie Stark showed him. Episode one, although Stark complained and said that you should always start with four. Steve didn't understand, one was always before four and from what he had understood math hadn't changed that much since the fourties. And it wasn't bad, he was honestly amazed at the special effects and everything. Stark kept complaining. The plot was lacking, the special effects sucked, "midichlorians is such a weak concept". Steve watched it again after Stark had left so he could actually immerse himself in it without the commentary.

He ended up staying awake the whole night to watch episode two and three as well. Stark emerged from the workshop when he was halfway through episode four.

"Could have told me you were finally on the good movies."

"They're all great. I mean the, uh, special effects? in this one is a little worse but..."

Stark gasped and put a hand over his arc reactor.

"Blasphemy. That's it, I'm disowning you."

"You... What?"

Stark sat down next to him without answering and the movie kept playing.

**-linebreak-**

Stark told him there were _books_ as well. Two days later they were delivered to his room before he had even placed an order. Some of them were worn and he frowned slightly until he found a note at the bottom of the pile.

_found these in my personal collection. Enjoy_

_-T.S_

Steve almost didn't emerge from his room for two weeks.

**-linebreak-**

Natasha told him about a thing called ao3 when they were out on a mission. Clint showed him how to find it on his Starkpad.

"Just stay clear of the Avengers-stories", he shuddered. "Fans writes the weirdest shit and no matter how good-looking Stark is - if I see one more story about me jumping him I will kill someone."

Steve didn't have an answer so he just hummed vaguely and decided to check it out later. When he was out of Star Wars-stories.

** -linebreak-**

There were a lot of stories. Steve didn't read all of them, there wasn't time and he wasn't that much of a fan of the really dark stories, he tended to back away pretty quickly. The first time he encountered smut (Han/Lando) he blushed and quickly closed the story, but he slowly went further and further down that rabbit hole.

Coffee shop AUs were so stupid and he loved them, while vampireAUs were just weird. After a few weeks he had found his favorite trope - domestic fluff. #everything is beautiful and nothing hurts.

"You got to leave kudos, man", Clint told him one day.

"Kudos?"

He hadn't quite picked up on the language used in these new times. Clint laughed.

"Yeah, just press this button here when you're done reading."

He went back to all the stories he had already read and left kudos on them (and if he ended up rereading a few of them no one had to know).

**-linebreak-**

"Vampire AUs are stupid", he exlaimed out loud when he was sitting in Stark's workshop. Stark hmmed in answer and Steve wasn't sure how to read that. Maybe he needed to explain his reasoning. He opened his mouth to do so but Stark shrugged.

"I dunno, I've read a few and they've been fun. They were crack though."

Steve wasn't sure if that was good or bad so he returned to his reading.

**-linebreak-**

The next day he found a new story by the user Jedistan3000.

**In the dark of the night**

_Yoda lives a lonely life. There's not many others like him except the person who turned him and he hasn't seen them for years now. Hunters are increasing in numbers and he can't fight them off on his own for much longer. It's time for him to take on an padawan of his own._

It was the first time he enjoyed a vampire AU.

**-linebreak-**

He started leaving comments on all new stories and chapters that Jedistan3000 posted, amazed at the rate which they published stuff at. Occassionally Jedistan3000 replied.

Sometimes Steve left ideas in his comments. Jedistan3000 either picked them up and wrote something for him or encouraged him to write them on his own. Steve laughed and told him the only thing he was good at was drawing and butting heads with the younglings (and if he meant a certain genius billionaire playboy no one had to know).

Tony noticed how much time he spent on the site and told him to set up an account, which Clint helped him do. Captain Handsome ended up being his username and he hated it. Jedistan3000 seemed happy about it next time he left a message.

"Now you can start posting stories!"

"I still can't write, you know."

"Best way to learn is by throwing yourself to the sharks. It'll be fine, can't be worse than some of the stories already here. Or my first fic."

Steve cringed a little. He had read it once when he dove far into the archives and it had been a mess of plotholes and angst and bad characterizations. He laughed.

"You know, if that's what I have to compete with, maybe I'll try ;)"

**-linebreak-**

Steve's first attempt was a five chapter disaster, but people were understanding and encouraging.

"So what happened to the green alien they were fighting at the end of chapter 2?" Jedistan3000 asked and Steve almost died, he had completely forgotten that plotpoint and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what he had been planning to do with it. Jedistan3000 laughed.

"Is it okay if I adopt her?"

"Just let her die so I can forget about my shame. I mean feel free, I don't remember what her deal was anyway."

Jedistan3000 did let her die in a heartbreaking moment after a 10,000 word story where they learned that her father had only been using her to lower the population of jedis throughout the universe. He had killed her himself when she returned after having lost the battle against Steve's protagonists and Steve almost died himself.

"Did you have to make her life such a tragedy?"

"Write what you know ;)"

"..should I be worried about you?"

Jedistan3000 disappeared for two weeks after that and Steve almost worried himself to death.

**-linebreak-**

Somehow Steve had thought that now that he shared Stark's love for Star Wars they'd grow closer, but instead they seemed to slide further and further apart. Their arguments became louder and more intense, lasting for longer each time. The rest of his team kept him sane, as did his growig friendship with Jedistan3000. Steve wrote his second fanfic, about a jedi who worked with a group of earthlings to protect it from a space version of HYDRA, which recieved a lot of kudos but no comment.

Jedistan3000 published a short story about a big hunk of a jedi who was perfect in literally every way. It was tagged as self-insert and Steve laughed.

"There is no way anyone is that perfect."

"You'd be surprised ;) But I promise the self-insert is not who you think it is."

Steve re-read the story 4 times but couldn't figure it out. jedistan3000 wouldn't tell him.

**-linebreak-**

The Avengers got called to a battle. Iron Man was first on the scene and Steve tried yelling instructions to him while he took the quintjet with the others but of course the great and wonderful Stark wouldn't listen to anyone and dove right into the line of fire. He was already injured while the rest of them arrived, the armor covering his shoulders and stomach blown away and a large gash on his back.

"I'm fine, I can do this all day", he said when Steve tried to get him off the battlefield and Steve was boiling.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me if you die!"

"Will you at least say a few words on my funeral?"

"I will tell the whole world what a stupid idiot you were and how you got yourself killed."

"Eh, no one would be surprised."

Iron man took off, dove straight into the middle of the battle, zoomed into the building their enemies were coming from. Steve and the others kept fighting the enemies outside, slowly thinning out their numbers and trying to get closer to the building. The coms sparked to life and Stark's voice cut through it.

"I'd head back if I were you guys."

"We're almost done here", Steve answered.

"if you don't back away you'll be well done in a little less than three minutes."

"Stark?"

"It's a bomb."

"You idiot!" Clint cut in. "Why didn't you start with that? 'Hey there's a bomb so we should get to safety'."

"Sorry. Hey guys, there's a bomb here I can't defused so we better get our asses to safety. Don't worry about stragglers, the blast radius should clear them out. I'll meet you back at the tower."

"Stark...."

"I'll. Meet. You. Back. Home."

Was it his imagination, or did Stark's breathing sound strained?

"Are you injured?"

"Just get out of here already, it'll blow in two minutes! Shit!"

There was definately a sound of pain somewhere in there. He glanced at Natasha, nodded, and ran towards the building, leaving the others to hurry back to the jet.

"You're a certified IDIOT", Stark yelled into the coms.

Steve wanted to yell back but he was busy running.

"Where are you?"

"One floor down, follow the trail of armor, can't miss it."

Steve's feet carried him faster than they ever had before. Down the stairs, along the trail of Iron Man-armor. Stark was sitting slumped against the the wall, blood dripping from his head, his chest, his back. His thighs were covered in it, as were his arms. Most of the armor was gone, one of his legs clearly broken. Steve tore off the thick door, grabbed Stark and took cover in a corner of the room. He wedged the door infront of them, held his shield behind the door for further protection and wrapped his own body around Stark as well as he could. The blast went off just as he got them as much behind cover as he could.

**-linebreak-**

Steve blinked awake. He was in a white room with a machine beeping next to him. Medical. He tore the IV out of his arm and sat up, threw the blanket to the side. All in all he was in pretty good shape. There were burns covering his back and his legs, lots of scratches that were almost healed up. His left arm was in a spint and his right shoulder was sore but since he had ben in the middle of the blast that was a good outcome. A doctor stopped by, told him he'd have to stay for another couple of days and he leaned back down, let sleep drag him under again.

Natasha was there when he woke up again one hour later. She brought his starkpad so he'd have something to do while resting up and then sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"Tony's still unconscious."

"He's an idiot."

"He is, but if he hadn't rushed in he wouldn't have been able to warn us in time and... who knows what would have happened."

He huffed but didn't argue. She ruffled his hair and shot him a smile.

"Try not to yell at him for it this time, okay?"

"I'll try."

**-linebreak-**

Jedistan3000 hadn't posted anything, hadn't commented on anything, hadn't left kudos on anything for 4 days. Steve wasn't stalking them, but maybe he was. A little. He read some other fanfics while waiting, finally had time to dive into the Avengers-fandom and it terrified him. Clint had been right. He quickly backed away again.

Stark woke up the same day as Steve was being released (5 days after the accident and Jedistan3000 was still awol) and Steve stopped by his room. He wanted to yell at him, but instead he took a deep breath and sank down in the uncomfortable plastic chair. Stark shot him a weak smile. The right side of his face was just a big bruise, swollen, but it had been protected from the blast by his helmet. Bandages peeked out under the hospital gown, covered most of his torso, shoulders and arms. His left leg was elevated, casted and his right leg was shorter than it used to be. Steve blinked and Stark's smile faded.

"Don't worry, I'll stll be able to build you gear. And once I've fixed the armor I can still help despite... that."

"I didn't mean... Stark, don't worry about that now."

"Can you... not call me Stark? I'm not my father. Just call me Tony. Or 'your majesty', that's also fine."

Steve lifted his hand to whack Tony's head but changed his mind and let it fall down again. Insted he chuckled.

"Okay... Tony."

Tony's smile returned and something felt right.

**-linebreak-**

Tony had to stay in the medbay for at least another week and for once he wasn't protesting. Pepper stopped by with his phone, starkpad and some paperwork he could do from the bed, Rhodey called at least twice every day to make sure he was following the doctors' orders. The Avengers all came to visit him, but noticed that all of them at once was too much and took turns instead, made sure there was always someone there with him. Steve spent a lot of his time in the room reading stories while Tony worked on whatever important project he could do on the pad.

The day after Tony woke up Jedistan3000 also returned and Steve's world was whole again.

"Sorry about the slow update rate, I was caught up in work! Have some domestic Han/Leia to tide you over while I work on the next chapter of my other stories! :)"

Over the following days they updated at least twice per day, as if they tried to catch up to the days they missed. Steve dropped comments, of course he did, and Jedistan3000 replied almost instantly.

"I was worried when you suddenly disappeared like this, almost thought I had said something to make you mad."

"Don't worry your sweet little ass about me Mr Handsome, I always land on my feet ;)"

"Still. Is there anywhere else I can reach you when you disappear like this? I almost died from worrying."

"I'll see what I can do. You on any social media?"

He could have asked Tony to help him, but when he noticed the comment he was with Natasha and Clint. They laughed when he asked them what social media was and then helped him set up accounts on the most popular sites.

**-linebreak-**

The first clue came from another self-insert fic Jedistan3000 posted. It was about an alcoholic who discovered his ability to use the force while he was captured by a sith.

The second came when they posted their first Avengers fanfic and they dove further into the dark sides of Iron Man than he had seen anyone else do (not that he had seen a lot with how fast he had backed out).

The third came when he overheard Tony talking with Colonel Rhodes and he threw out the phrase "love you 3000, platypus".

The fourth was a story they wrote about Captain America and he noticed a lot of thing that lined up with the other self-insert they had written. Steve commented that Captain America was far from as perfect as they had portrayed him, but Jedistan3000 just answered "depends on whose eyes you look through".

The fifth was a story that reminded him a little too much about their latest mission.

The final clue was their handle on Twitter. "You know who I am". Steve shot up from the couch and rushed to Tony's workshop. Tony didn't seem surprised when Steve showed up, but his shoulders tensed and he winced, still sore after the explosion.

"Jedistan", Steve breathed out.

"Guess the gig's up, huh? What gave me away?"

"I should have noticed it earlier..."

Tony grabbed a screwdriver, leaned back over the piece of Iron Man-armor he had on the desk. Steve wanted to move coser but his legs didn't want to carry him over.

"The Iron Man-story..."

"Just... just a huge 'what if', I promise."

But Tony didn't look at him when he said it and that was enough for Steve to know it wasn't just a what if.

"I'm sorry, Tony."

Tony tensed up again and Steve jut wanted to wrap him up and protect him.

"Am I off the team now? I always knew I would be my own downfall."

"Tony..." Steve's legs started working and he stumbled more than walked gracefully over to Tony's desk. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel anything less than perfect. I didn't know, I thought..."

Comments from ao3 suddenly flashed to life around them and Steve turned around to look a them.

_iron Man isn't like this, he's just an asshole._

_The only thing Iron Man deserves is to be six feet under._

_Where did you even get all of this from, dude? Just go back to your regular fandom and leave the Avengers to those who_ know_ what they're talking about._

_The only thing that makes sense here is Captain America._

_A warprofiteer has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and no matter what you're trying to pull no one will believe it._

And one thing that wasn't a comment but made Steve feel even sicker.

_Works inspired by this story: Iron Man meets his demise_

"You thought I was just a warprofiting asshole who lived off my father's good name and dragged it in the dirt wherever I went. I mean..." Tony put the tools down and slumped in the chair. "You're not wrong, I am an asshole. I could probably learn how to Human if I put my mind to it but I'd rather invent things."

Steve cleared a part of the desk and sat down on it. He waved at Jarvis to take away the comments and they disappeared. Tony looked completely defeated, even more than he had done waking up with half a leg missing.

"You're an invaluable part of our team, it wouldn't be the same without you. And if anyone ever tries to get you off it they'll have to go through me."

"Up until two weeks ago I was just Stark and the worst thing that could have happened in your life, so I don't quite believe that. Are you..." Tony shifted in the chair, squirmed nervously. "Are you going to stop reading my stories now? Because I enjoyed our conversations."

"We can have our conversations in real life now."

Tony laughed and shook his head.

"I'm not sure if you've noticed but I can be an asshole in real life."

"Yeah, what's up with that? You clearly know how human interactions are supposed to work, I've seen it in your stories."

"In writing you can rewrite over and over until it comes out correct, out here you only have one chance. But can we stop with the psychoanalysis already?"

Tony rubbed his eye and Steve finally noticed the dark bags under his eyes and how thin he still looked even after a week out of the hospital. He slid off the desk and grabbed Tony's wheelchair, started moving towards the door.

"What are you _doing_?!"

Tony didn't slam the breaks and Steve took that as permission to continue.

"Dinner and movie night. We're gonna watch Star Wars. And then we're gonna write a story together."

Tony laughed again.

"Get on my level first, Captain Handsome."

"How long did you know it was me by the way?"

"I suspected it when you started leaving comments, the language was too much like you and not enough like the normal internet population. But then you had to go and choose Captain Handsome as your username and I _knew._ Maybe not use one of my nicknames for you next time if you wanna remain anonymous."

"I'll remember that for next time. But uh..."

He hesitated while they entered the elevator and took a shaky breath.

"Do you really think I'm that perfect?"

"We are not gonna discuss my teenage crush on you right now. Oh shit, forget I said that. This is why I prefer computers."

Tony hid his face in his hands and Steve laughed, patted his shoulder carefully.

"We'll save that discussion for another day."

He helped Tony to the couch, disappeared to the kitchen to grab snacks and drinks for them while Tony queued up the movies. They ordered pizza when Steve returned and when they had finished dinner and Tony was almost starting to drift off Steve pulled him closer and wrapped a blanket around him.

"I'm almost done with my leg", Tony mumbled and cuddled up against Steve. "Then I'll be able to walk again."

"We'll go out for donuts when you can. The whole gang."

"I'd like that", Tony yawned. "I've always wanted to have friends."

Steve didn't have an answer so he didn't say anything, watched the movie and listened as Tony eventually slipped off into dreamland.

**Author's Note:**

> oof that turned out a lot longer and grimmer than I had ever anticipated. Tony lost a leg because _I don't even know_. It had nothing with anything to do. I needed to hospitalize him for a while but why that bad? Heck if I know any longer. At least they survived the blast.  
And after all that it still wasn't the coincidence of Tony and Jedistan being gone at the same time that clued Steve in.
> 
> Someday maybe I'll learn to plan my stories. Until then I will keep making a mess of them.
> 
> Anyway, I have nothing of intelligence to say. Time to move on to the next square of the bingo!


End file.
